JPG: Lacuna is the current chapter of your artistic life and the next chapter of your creative life you might do something different musically, production-wise etc.  The presentation — music and videos – combines you as an artist including your past as a drummer, making it a rhythmic way of approaching the songwriting plus the blending of thematic ideas and other arts such as singing and dancing.

TW: Yeah, again, it’s a part of me just growing up and coming out (laughs). It’s really this acceptance of and also this acceptance of multi-faceted aspects of who I am. In a way I feel really deprived as a human being when I’m not expressing these multiple layers and even though it might not be super easy to digest right away to me I’ve been circling it for most of my life.  

Something that I realized at a real young age was that my integrity as an artist was the absolute most important thing and that I had to stay curious. I had to continue to be driven by a sense of discovery and curiosity. Those are the elements of success that I’m drawn to much more than status and other stuff. In that sense I have to say that I’m really proud of this record and I feel like I did what I needed to do at that given time. Now, I’m really excited to continue to evolve.

I was thinking about the famous Bowie quote of, “I don’t know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.” I do relate to that in the sense that I don’t know where I’m going, but if anything it would continuously change because I need to stay challenged. Then, there’s also this core identity and forms of expression within me that also will remain, as much as they can evolve and change. There’s this elemental core in my being I’m quite confident in and that’s what I’m driven by.

JPG: After watching the three videos associated with Lacuna, I viewed an interview where you mentioned that with them, “I “discovered my physical language in tune with the music and learned how to feel safe again in expressing myself.” Was that something that came about during the two days making the videos or did you have a visualization of the trilogy and that helped you?

TW: No, it was a process, man. When I go back to my teens, because I toured a lot with these…I was like this child performer that got asked by a lot of…again, this was in Europe, pretty avant-garde performance artists—choreographers and directors. I started touring when I was 11. Then, when I left this dance company at the age of 16 to move back to New York…it was this thing of do I want to become a musician or an actress or a dancer? At that age it became really clear to me that I didn’t necessarily need to choose, that they could co-exist as one within a vision but that I needed to develop my skills on many levels with the hope, with the ambition, the goal, to one day be able t explore a bigger vision that could marry those different forms of expression to where the music could be a vehicle for the performance and could be a vehicle to come back to dance. 

Also, while I was making this record and writing, the political climate is really intense. I experienced it really intensely as I was writing this record.  My senses were hyper…and from the Time’s Up movement, dude, and my relationship to instruments and, from my perspective, being a tiny, petite little girl/woman. And yes, I’ve had this immense privilege of having world-class mentors but I’ve always been this petite little girl in very male-dominated scenes, basically.

Also, the political climate, I experienced it really intensely as I was writing this record. My senses were hyper, and from the Time’s Up movement, dude, and my relationship to instruments and, from my perspective, being a tiny, petite little girl/woman. And yes, I’ve had this immense privilege of having world-class mentors but I’ve always been this petite little girl in very male-dominated scenes, basically.

With Little Shalimar, as we were getting to know each other, I shared some very, very intimate stuff with him and that was directly related to the sign of our times. Within that, too, I realized drums and dance have been my primary forms of expression. Singing was the most…I was doing that before I could talk, basically. But, just making the connection and going back to the punk thing I was talking about, realizing there was also this vehicle of sensuality that existed in me when as a child already. Why was I being brought into these productions as the only child doing long salsa solos with much older men? These kinds of things (laughs).

There was a sensuality that was very pronounced and yet at the same time from a physical respect when I brought it into the music, it always felt really threatening when I brought it in because of the nature of the industry. I didn’t want to be perceived as a sex kitten and I want to be taken seriously as a musician, as an artist, and not just as a sex object. I came to a lot of realizations while I was making this record and, again, with the political climate that is, I am not going to apologize anymore for who I am as a young woman. I am not going to hide and let this oppressive nature bring me down and bring my potential down either.

That was a thing with the drums for instance…for me dance and drums are very, very similar. I was talking about this with my drummer the other day because he’s a very technical, theoretical mind and I was saying, “Music, it’s a dance to me, even the way I write songs.” I listen to my body. Is it moving with it or not? I can’t really detach that aspect from my intellectual endeavors. I think about lyricism as a more of an intellectual versus rhythm, which can be a very physical one and a very emotive one. I just want to embrace both aspects.

I realized the instruments I played, I’m completely auto redactive. I’ve now realized I’m much more of a hardware person than a software person, and I think that making that realization, I need to physically get off on something at the same time.  I can’t just be locked in my head only.

JPG: It has to move the hips.

TW: Well, the hips, even my soul, even what moves me in a way that we can’t intellectualize. When you look at the core of music and art that’s what it should do. At least that’s what I believe, what I’m driven by, the impression that can hit you beyond intellectual and is still fulfilling on both levels.

So, I wanted to expand and bring those worlds together. Again, it’s a dream I’ve had since I was a teenager. Perhaps, this rebellion in me that is I need to resist, suppress it, and I’m lucky to have these vehicles of expression to do that. That’s an immense privilege that I need to take responsibility for and honor any way that I can.

JPG: When you mention music and dance what pops into my head is someone like Kate Bush. Was that someone that you moved towards intellectually or someone mentioned her to you?

TW: Yeah, yeah. It’s so funny that you bring her up because I recently stumbled on her when I was on this tour. I was like, “Oh God, when I get home, I’ve really got to study more of Kate Bush’s work and more of her visual work,” especially because I stumbled upon a music video and she’s totally moving and doing all this crazy stuff. I had never seen it. I’m a huge fan of hers, but I will say that I’m also quite ignorant in regards to her whole catalog. I only know her biggest records. “Hounds of Love” is it called?

JPG: Yeah. What was the video that you saw? Was it “Running Up that Hill?”

TW: No, it was this random thing. It was just a small snippet. I saw it pass by on the internet. It reminded me that she did so much. She was a pioneer.

JPG: Finally, as far as developing a better understanding of your past and using that in a way that’s a shared experience with others, is that something you feel for yourself as an artist and do you think that more artists should put themselves out there to have a communal experience with listeners?

TW: I have always been unapologetically selfish about what drives me. Also, coming back to my deep commitment to integrity, I’m driven to connect.

I think it’s an act of love, right? You can’t really love another if you’re not able to embrace yourself first, basically. It’s the same for me with art. If I’m not doing things that feel authentic to my own spirit then whatever I’m sharing and whatever connects with an audience can’t be authentic either. 

If I’m creating stuff, if I’m using this vessel of music to explore things that are authentic to my own integrity, then when connections are made to an audience, that is like a guaranteed authentic connection for me. Nothing can replace that other than myself. No machine can fabricate that. That’s my thing.

It’s nature versus nurture.  It’s not either/or. It’s both. I perceive that with my own work process. Once I reach that finish line then it’s not mine anymore. It’s there for whoever can connect to it, is willing to connect to it.

Of course, my hopes are from a writing perspective, and this is something where I’m really excited to continue to explore and develop. In the past I’ve been quite confessional but now I’m driven by developing a more narrative way of writing.

I do want to connect on the most universal themes and that is important because I believe that maturing through this record and looking at the political climate…the thing that gives me hope is how universally connected we are on many levels. That’s the stuff that does give me hope to keep going.  Okay, when I’m depressed and you say when you’re depressed, we’re connected in that somehow even though it may be for different reasons but still that’s a universal sentiment. That I really value and I think is important in music and art. If the feeling isn’t authentic then what’s the point. It’s got to hit people at least. I’m driven by ways of the heart. I want my heart to be touched and vice versa; also being able to be open with one’s emotions.

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